In a joint statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy this week, the Trump administration has reaffirmed its stance against the IMO Net Zero Framework and what it views as a “global carbon tax.”

The U.S. administration has set out its view that these measures could disproportionately impact American consumers and shipping companies. It has also raised objections to the exclusion of certain fuel technologies and the perceived lack of transparency in the IMO’s decision-making process.

In parallel, the U.S. is expanding its maritime sanctions enforcement, with new desks being established across key agencies. This could lead to stricter scrutiny of global shipping operations, including those involving UK-flagged vessels.

You can read the statement from the US Administration in full here 

As the industry prepares for the next round of IMO discussions in October the UK Chamber continues to work to influence the industry position ahead of discussions including in the development of the ICS position paper on supporting the IMO framework and in working to ensure government understands and accounts for the priorities of the shipping industry in its own positioning ahead of the talks.

For more information on this work please contact Francesco Sandrelli